German Patent application DE-A-100 08 746 describes a continuous system in which the nonwoven staple fiber material produced on a carding machine runs through a calendar and then to an endless conveyor for further processing on which the carded nonwoven material is provided with a pulp coating and subsequently undergoes hydrodynamic needling. The nonwoven material must be cooled after calendaring, and to achieve this a pair of cooling rollers not referred to in the application must then be inserted between the calendar and the endless conveyor. In the event the nonwoven material is not bonded by the calendar roller pair, that is, in the event the calendar is traversed in the open state in the continuous system by the nonwoven material, the nonwoven staple fiber material is not strong enough to pass through the cooling roller pair or to the following endless conveyor without an effective support for its surface.
The goal of the invention is to develop a method and associated device by which a nonbonded, or light, nonwoven staple fiber material may be continuously and easily transported from the roller nip of the calendar roller pair to the continuing endless conveyor.
To achieve this goal, the invention provides that the nonwoven material be seized by air pressure, such as a partial vacuum, which acts against the transport element, and that it be held by this partial vacuum on the transport element during the transfer and delivery process. This partial vacuum may act on an endless delivery conveyor or on a perforated drum. It is especially advantageous if cooling air has already been passed through the nonwoven material during the required delivery.